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Home My WebLink About2021-10-28; Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident, Report Nr. 4 (Districts -All); Harrison, DavidTo the members of the: CITY COUNCIL Date1$J/4JcA ,/ CC v CM ~ ACM v-DCM {3) ~ Oct. 28, 2021 Council Memorandum To: Honorable Mayor H embers of the City Council From: David Harrison, Assista t · or of Emergency Services Via: Scott Chadwick, City M na {city of Carlsbad Memo ID #2021203 Re: Orange County Pipelin Spill Incident, Report Nr. 4 {Districts -All) This memorandum provides information related to the Orange County pipeline oil spill. It focuses on information and actions that are new since the last update. Background The Unified Command continues its response to a crude oil spill in the vicinity of Orange and San Diego counties and is investigating reports of tar balls reaching as far south as the Mexican shoreline. Shorelines remain in various stages of assessment, cleanup, inspection and the signoff process. Cleanup efforts continue to focus on collecting tar balls along the shoreline, with task forces and hot shot teams primarily staged in San Diego County. According to the County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services, to date no segments have been inspected for the final sign-off by Unified Command. Tar reporting and cleanup The public will likely continue to encounter tar balls on San Diego County beaches, including Carlsbad in coming weeks and months. Eight tar ball reports documenting contamination on Carlsbad beaches were submitted by staff and California State Parks lifeguards to the Unified Command during the period covered by this memo. Oil and/or debris removed: • October 21: 45 bags of seagrass, tar mix, rock scrapping from North Carlsbad Beach south to Palomar Airport Road • October 22: 45 bags of seagrass, tar mix, rock scrapping from North Carlsbad Beach south to Palomar Airport Road, and 33 bags from South Ponto Beach and to the south • October 23: 39 bags of seagrass and tar mix from South Ponto Beach • October 24: 156 bags of seagrass and tar mix from North Carlsbad Beach south through South Ponto Beach Carlsbad Fire Department 2560 Orion Way I Carlsbad, CA 92010 I 760-931-2141 Council Memo -Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident, Report Nr. 4 Oct. 28, 2021 Page 2 • October 25: 94 bags of seagrass and tar mix from North Carlsbad Beach south through South Ponto Beach • October 26: 176 bags of oil debris from North Carlsbad Beach south through South Ponto Beach • October 27: Approximately 22 bags of oil debris from North Carlsbad Beach Beach inspection process Once the removal of oil, tar balls and patties and oil contaminated debris has been completed for a segment of shoreline, the Unified Command will direct a shoreline cleanup and assessment technique team, sometimes called a sign off field team, to inspect those areas of the shoreline. Unified Command has asked to have a City of Carlsbad representative to join the team to review each segment of Carlsbad beaches to determine if they meet inspection requirements. The Assistant Director of Emergency Services has been designated as Carlsbad's sign off field team representative. California State Parks San Diego Coast District staff have decided they will not be using a city representative as part of the sign-off process for state beaches but will remain in regular communications with the city. Poseidon Energy has identified a sign off field team representative and is coordinating with NRG, the operator of the power plant, regarding the company's roles and responsibilities in the process for the lagoon and beach areas they own. (Roughly the beach area westward and south of Aqua Hedionda Lagoon south to Terramar). A sign off field team has been tasked with performing an initial inspection. The process calls for the team to return 72 hours later for a follow-up inspection. Cleanup crews will return to the site if additional cleaning is required. If not, the sign-off team will complete a second cleanup inspection. The purpose of the inspection is for all parties on the team to agree that the removal of free and/or residual oil by reasonable means has been completed. Reasonable is defined as when the team members concur that further shoreline treatment would not yield a net environmental benefit. The teams' segment inspection reports are forwarded to the Unified Command, which holds ultimate decision authority on determining a beach is clean. Clean-up guideline requirements vary by beach surface -whether sand, gravel, riprap, etc. -and may include specific criteria such as: ■ No surface oil on sand (tar balls, tar patties or tar mats) greater than one inch and more than five tar balls over 100 yards ■ No visible oil on the surface ■ No oiled marine vegetation The clean-up requirements also include less specific criteria such as: ■ All tar balls or tar patties that could be removed by reasonable cleanup techniques should be removed. Council Memo -Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident, Report Nr. 4 Oct. 28, 2021 Page 3 • Remaining tar balls and tar patties should be at or below normal and natural occurrence. On October 27 the Unified Command approved end point guidelines to ensure the greatest net environmental benefit and ensure mitigation of public health and environmental impacts through the removal of oil remaining in terrestrial, shoreline and marine habitats. The following cleanup end points were approved: • No accessible incident oiled debris remains • No oil on surfaces or no oil rubs off on contact • No oil sheens (excluding biological sheens) affecting sensitive resources To date no segments in San Diego county have been signed off by Unified Command. Once the command has signed off on a shoreline it will enter the post-signoff response phase, during which the Unified Command will continue to respond to reports of oiling. The plan for this phase is being finalized and will be distributed by the Unified Command when approved. Even after the response concludes, the US Coast Guard and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response remain the agencies responsible for responding to reports of oil 24 hours a day and seven days a week, and those agencies will deploy field response teams to investigate any new reports. The Unified Command has yet to distribute the federal plan for long-term monitoring and maintenance. Continuing actions • Extended tar ball monitoring and reporting. (To report tar and/or oil contamination people can email: tarballreports@wildlife.ca.gov) • Continuing coordination with the Unified Command and San Diego County Office of Emergency Services • Coordinating sign off field team process • Public information sharing Potential community interests or concerns • Continuing occurrence of tar balls for weeks and months • Financial impacts and recovery {Community members impacted by the oil spill who need to file a claim can call 866-985-8366.) • Environmental impact • Future of offshore oil operations cc Celia Brewer, City Attorney Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services Council Memo -Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident, Report Nr. 4 Oct. 28, 2021 Page 4 Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services Michael Calderwood, Fire Chief Mickey Williams, Police Chief David Graham, Chief Innovation Officer Kristina Ray, Communication & Engagement Director Kyle Lancaster, Parks & Recreation Director